A Fresh Perspective - May 11, 2007
In Luke 4 in his hometown of Nazareth Jesus speaks of his mission as one of preaching good news to the poor and liberating the oppressed. Initially there is some doubt, but Luke says that the people speak well of him. Then Jesus tells them two Bible stories from their own scriptures. There were many needy widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, but God sent him to a widow in Sidon, a Gentile. There were many lepers in Israel who needed healing in the time of Elisha, but God sent him instead to Naaman the Syrian (4:25-27). Luke says, "When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage" (4:28).
They were happy with Jesus having a ministry to the poor and the oppressed as long as it was their own poor and oppressed. Jesus says that God is bigger and larger and more gracious than that, that God is no respecter of persons, that God's forgiveness and grace and mercy knows no ethnic boundaries. Jesus says that God's blessing is not limited to nationality or race or gender or any other humanly imposed category that separates, divides and excludes. And they were furious.
They could have challenged Jesus' reading of scripture and offered a counter interpretation. They could have found plenty of Bible verses to give a good rebuttal. They could have turned to the passage where God chose Isaac over Ishmael or Jacob over Esau; they could have quoted the Psalms that call down curses on Israel's enemies; they could have appealed to the stories of conquest where God ordered the complete destruction and annihilation of the people who occupied the promised land; they could have quoted, "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord."
But they are too enraged to offer a polite counter-view. Jesus challenged a deeply ingrained religious belief that justified their exclusion of certain people and that set the standard for who's in and out, blessed and not blessed. Their God played favorites, and from their own scriptures Jesus spoke of a more inclusive God.
Jesus didn't begin with scripture and then arrive at his understanding of God. Scripture presented too diverse a perspective. Jesus began with his own personal experience and understanding of God's character and nature and then filtered his reading and interpretation of scripture through the funnel of that experience and understanding.
In all of religion, or for that matter in all of life there is no more important question than the question, "What kind of God is your God?"
Chuck Queen is Senior Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort (www.ibcfrankfort.com); he welcomes your comments at cqueen@fewpb.net. Look for "A Fresh Perspective" every Friday.